Modem processors in modern mobile communication devices are placed under increasing demands. In addition to performing software-defined radio (SDR) functions, modem processors also control one or more power-saving functions, in order to reduce the amount of power consumed by one or more components of a radio (e.g., a power amplifier) in transmission circuitry of the mobile communication device. The use of power-saving functions does not come without cost. For example, depending on the power-saving function used by the radio may generate signal distortion, which may be corrected by the modem processor at the cost of more operations performed by the modem processor. The demand on the modem processor, which can be measured in millions of instructions per second (MIPS), may exceed the processor's capacity, which may cause system instability in the modem processor and may prevent the modem processor from executing scheduled tasks.